Means for paneling



. 21, 1937. RANDALL 2,103,177

MEANS FOR PANELING Filed July 6, 1936 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

Patented Dec. 21, 1937 UNITED STATES iPATiE-N T," ,fOFF-ICE i 12,103,177 7 i f f r amass Ton 1 mm in. Randall, Cincinnati, Ohio 7 Application July 6, 1936, Serial No. 89,053 '5'Claims. (01. 29644) invention relates-to impro ements in means for paneling, and is particularly adapted for 'the finishing ortriimn'i'ng of automobile interiors.

An object or the invention is to greatly e duce the labor and expense of manufacturing automobile trim, and of applying -thetr'ir'n'to the b'odybf the automobile.

Another object of the inventionis" tojeffect the savings above mentioned, without sacrificing du rab i'lit'y, neatness, and eifectivenessof "th'ebariling.job. v

The 'foregoing and other objects are attained by the means described "herein and disclosed "in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective viewof apanel assembled forapplication to an automobile door. d M

Fig. 21s a perspective view of a door especially adapted 'for application of the panel shown in Fig. '1.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken transverslythiough the lower railjil ll' of the door oi h'ig. 2,;showing the panelappliedthereto Fig. 4 is a perspective View of a nailing strip which forms a detail of the lpresent inyen'tion and showing part or a panel .in.:.place thereon.

Fig. '5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken "Fig. -6 is a Iragmental view similar to Figs-2, showing amod'ification. h

Inthe application of trim or-panels to vehicle bodies, it is necessary to maintain ata minimum, the labor and expense factor becausebfpresentday production methods of manufacture. fMuch e fiort has been expended in this cart to achieve that end, the problem ,having been attacked in manydifierent ways. For example, the body f the vehicle was madepartly of wOQd-tO-iaciIitate attachment of the panels or trim materials by means of ordinary nails. in other instances, manufacturers chose -to omit the wood vframing from the vehicle body and sought toreduce-eX- .pense and labor by the employment of snap fasteners of various kinds designed to hold the panels in position relative to the vehicle body. 'Ii'or obvious reasons, the wood frame in a vehicle body wasconsidered undesirable. Snap fasteners of the character heretofore usedalso met 7 with objection because of the complicated machinery required for their manufacture and 'for assembly upon the panels preparatory to application of the panels to the vehicle body. 'I he primary object of the present invention is to eliminate both the wood framing andithesnap fastener arrangement, and sti11' -maintain the high character of workmanship and neatnes'srequired in the application of trim jorpanels "to vehicle bodies, "and to accomplish the'resfilt iiesired by means "of a construction 'greatlyre'ducing the cost, notonly of manufacturing; butdf applying thetrim 'or'panels. i I

In accordance with "the present invention, 1 the vehicle body or parts thereof, forexample, the door 5, is provided with an interior'meta-llic flange 6 which furnishes an 'open "frame "for *reception of a panel'o'r reinforced board's'uchfajs i's shown in Fig. 1; y In practice, the 'flange'is' integral with the -r'na'teria'l of the'doonand comprises thetwoup'right sections 1 and 8, and'adjoining transverse or horizontal sections for rails B'fand v15 l0. At specified intervals, the flanges "|,"8,' "9 and "llla'refslotted as at I2,-t1ie slots being the form of substantially straight chiselcuts through the material "of "the flange, with' 'the V edges of the cuts parallelandproject'ed slightly V420 inwardly, as i'nidi'cated'at l 3 in Fig. 3. This type V of slot is peculiarly adapted for easily starting "a. nailthroughthe material of the nangaandiin addition; it presents resilient edges thatclosly hug the shanks of the nails after thena'il's have beenfdriven into position asshownin *Eig. 3. in the preferred construction, "the slits "orichis'el "cuts Itare made in the flanges without "remov 'ing any of the metal.

forcing board or "sheet of rigid material, which 1 :may be pressed pape'rt'or composition"substance,

of proper dimensions 'for substantially c'bv'rin'g 'thfflan'ges of "the door "'5. Thislb'oard or sheet, when m'anufactured or cut "to size, is ,pr'oiiide'd with apertures 15' spaced fr'om'the edges of'g'the sheet or board, "for the reception of the "nails carried by nailing strips l6 which boundthe1marg lnal portions of the sheet or, board :11. 71h accordance with the "invention, the nails of the A0 "Referring now to "Fig. 1,14 indicates-arcin- '30 strips it, the perforations in'theboarjdjor sheet T4, and the chisel cuts or slots or the "flanges J,

-'8, I9 and I'll, 'areallspaced apart ,or arranged so that-they will correspond exactly when the assembled panel of Fig. '1 is placed in p fsfition g Fig. 4, the .nai lsff'l are s'pot M welded to the inner face l8 of the nailing strip, the shanks of the nails being suitably roughened or mutilated to provide a strong frictional engagement when the nails are driven into the slots H! of the metallic flanges aforesaid. To cover the edges of the reinforcing board or sheet M, the nailing strip is provided with a narrow flange I 9 bent transversely to the plane of the nailing strip, said flange serving also to impart rigidity ,to the nailing strip, so that the strip will not be unduly distorted during application of the panel, or during removal of the panel from the door flanges subsequent to applicationi It will therefore be understood that the paneling can be removed from the vehicle body or parts thereof whenever desired, by merelyinserting a tool between a flange such as 8 and its overlying nailing strip. The nature of each chisel cut or. slot 12 is such that it can be hammered orbent to its original form or configuration upon reapplication of the paneling means, it being understood that the clamping edges formed at l.3]would' be slightly deformed by the driving of a nail therethrough.

It will be understood that the nail heads are, by preference, but not necessarily, disposed upon the inner faces [8 of the nailing strips, said heads being made sufficiently thin that they may sink into the material of the board or sheet [4, as

shown in Fig. 3, when the assembly is effected by means of hammer blows or a pressing operation. By punching the board or sheet l4 for reception of the nail shanks, the nailing strips are forced to fit accurately and neatly along the marginal edges of the board or sheet, this result being impossible or at least uncertain in constructions wherein the nail shanks form their own perforations upon being driven through the material of the board or sheet.

The modification of Fig. 6 which is a View of theforward portion of the door shownin Fig. 2, shows how the slits I2 might be arranged in the flanges 8, 9 and Hi to extend in a common direction, so that a slight tolerance may be provided in"'plac ing the panel to insure a desired level of its top .edge'with respect to the sill of the window aperturam" the upper portion of the door. This modification suggests also the possibility of extending the slits horizontally in all the inwardly extended flanges of the door to provide for lateral tolerance or clearance in adjusting the panel toward and from the uprights of the door prior to driving the nailing strips into position. These modifications just mentioned are ordinarily not needed when the part to be paneled is of standard dimensions and undistorted. In other words, the' arrangement shown in Figs. 1 and 2 will automatically provide an accurate and workmanlike job if' the door is true and dimensioned With ordinary accuracy.

Although the invention has beenexplained and illustrated as applied to a door of a vehicle, it

is to be understood that other parts of a metallic vehicle body may be paneled or finished in the same manner. The method and means herein disclosed for the application of trim or panelinghave been found effective for reducing the cost of both material and labor, with a substantial saving of time, the job being completed with the same degree of neatness and accuracy, as

"deform said clamping edges for frictionally holdingthe shanks.

2. A self-locating panel structure, including a.

: support to be paneled and comprising a sheet metal member having a supporting face and a back, said supporting face having a series of elongated through slits punched therein from the supporting face toward the back without removal of metal, said slits thereby being bulged at the back and dented along their length at the supporting face, each slit being constituted of a pair of parallel uninterrupted and continuous clamping edges deformable with substantially equal resistance at any point along its length when penetrated by a panel securing nail poised over the dented region and driven through the slit from the supporting surface toward the back, the dented region of the supporting face serving to guide the nailshank into the slit. V

3. A vehicle door havinga frame including a metallic flange at the inner side thereof, said flange having a supporting face and a back, and having 3/1802, series of spaced elongated through chisel cuts formed therein, each cut being constituted of not more than two opposed continuous and "uninterrupted clamping edges both bulged inwardly toward the back of the flange leaving an elongated uninterrupted dent in the supporting face co-extensive with the clamping edges, said dent furnishing an extensive means of guiding a nail to be driventhrough when poised substantially over the slit, the continuity of the clamping edges serving to provide substantially the same resistanceto deformation of the clamping edges at all points along their length when the nail is driven through the slit from the dented side of the flange toward the bulged side thereof.

4. In combination, a panel including spaced nails extending therefrom substantially at right angles to the plane thereof, a support for the panel comprising a sheet metal member having a panel supporting face and a back, said member having formed therein, at a spacing substantially corresponding to the panel nail spacing, a series of elongated through chisel cuts each punched therein from the supporting face toward the back so as to bulge the sheet metal member at the back and to dent it for providing a nail guide in the tion of the clamping edges when the nails of the panel arepoised substantially over the elongated dents and driven through the chisel cuts from the supporting face of the sheet metal member toward the back thereof.

5. In a panel mounting structure, a sheet metal support having a panel supporting face 7 and a back, and a series of spaced elongated through chisel cuts formed therein, each out being constituted of not more than two opposed continuous and uninterrupted clamping edges both bulged rearwardly toward the back of the sheet metal support leaving an elongated uninterrupted dent in the supporting face co-ex- 10 tensive with the clamping edges, said dent furnishing an extensive means of guiding a nail to be driven through when poised substantially over the slit, the continuity of the clamping edges serving to provide substantially the same resistance to deformation of the clamping'edges at all points along their length when the nail is driven through the slit from the dented side of the sup- I V 5 port toward the bulged side thereof.

7 HOWARD D. RANDALL. 

